The subject matter herein relates generally to electrical connectors, and more particularly, to electrical connectors mounted to a panel of an electrical device or system.
Known electrical systems and devices today are designed to include panel-mounted connectors positioned along the panels or walls of an electrical system or device, such as a portable computer. For example, some devices may include connector receptacles disposed on an exterior panel or chassis. Peripheral connectors that are coupled to one or more external devices may mate with the panel-mounted receptacle to permit communication between the external devices and the devices housing the panel-mounted connectors. The peripheral connector may include a plug end that is received through a mating face of the panel mounted connector to establish an electrically conductive pathway between the peripheral connector and the panel-mounted connector. The mating face of the panel mounted connector may be disposed proximate to the panel.
Some of the known panel-mounted connectors are secured to the panels using a snap-fit coupling. For example, a panel-mounted connector may be mounted to a panel by loading the connector through an opening in the panel. The connector may be loaded from the front side of the panel, or the exterior side of the device. Spring fingers or extensions of the connector may permit the connector to be front loaded into the panel opening. But, these same spring fingers or extensions impede removal of the connector through the opening once the connector is loaded in the opening. The connector is sized to fit within the opening and cannot have a larger cross-sectional shape than the opening. For example, the size of the mating face of the connector is established to be no larger than the panel opening. If the mating face were too large, the connector may not be capable of being front loaded into the panel. As a result, known front, loaded panel-mounted connectors do not include mounting ears or other components near the mating face that provide a method of securing the peripheral connector and panel-mounted connector together. Instead, the peripheral connector is merely placed into the panel-mounted connector. The peripheral connector may be inadvertently removed from the panel-mounted connector and therefore separate the peripheral and panel-mounted connectors from a mated relationship. Thus, a need exists for a panel connector assembly that secures a peripheral connector to a front loaded, panel-mounted connector to prevent removal of the peripheral connector from the panel-mounted connector.